Louis C.K. Tells Letterman: I Found Dead Body in East River: Watch

Boating enthusiast Louis C.K. came upon a dead body in the East River earlier this summer (Photo: Getty Images)

Louis C.K. did his civic duty earlier this summer when he came upon a corpse while boating in New York City’s East River.

The comedian and star of “Louie” on FX told the story of this uniquely New York nautical experience Tuesday night when he was a guest on David Letterman’s “Late Show” on CBS.

C.K. came on the show to promote the movie he’s in this summer — Woody Allen’s“Blue Jasmine,” starring Cate Blanchett — and revealed that he recently bought a boat. He didn’t describe the boat or reveal how much it cost, but we assume Louis can afford it now that he’s starring in one of the most critically acclaimed sitcoms in the history of television.

With the craft’s radio tuned to an official frequency, Louis heard a Coast Guard bulletin alerting boaters in the area of New York’s Queensboro Bridge (which crosses the East River at 59th Street in Manhattan) that they should be on the lookout for the body of a man who, it turned out later, had jumped off of the bridge.

And sure enough, Louis came upon the corpse — known to local authorities and hard-boiled newspaper types as a “floater” — and radioed authorities. As a result, he had to stay with the corpse for a short period of time until emergency boats could reach the scene.

Watch Louie C.K. tell David Letterman about his East River adventure:

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“It was creepy and weird,” he told Dave. “And I felt embarrassed for [the dead man] a little bit. I was the only person there, so I had to call the Coast Guard and I said, ‘I found the dead guy. He’s right here.’ And so they said, ‘Please wait there.’ ”

The waiting time gave Louis an opportunity to think about this person, and to also veto the temptation to take a “selfie” with the corpse with his cellphone. “This was a person with a story, this was a life,” Louis said, “and he’s just a floater now. I felt all kinds of things and at one point I was like, I have my phone, but I don’t want this guy in my phone!”

Louis also talked about the movie, and one of his co-stars, comedian Andrew Dice Clay. He also played a voicemail message he received from the Dice Man.